


out of love.

by daffodoie



Series: (fluffy) 5 AM dotae fics [4]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: (AND NO ONE CAN CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE), (he only appears briefly but Johnny's the sweetest most caring hyung), M/M, Pass it on, but it gets fluffy and happy for the ending, day 4 of writing dotae in the middle of the night, dotae soulmates, they have a little fight, they make up, they're also both stubborn, this one's a bit angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:27:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24345742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daffodoie/pseuds/daffodoie
Summary: Doyoung doesn't like the way Taeyong keeps pushing himself to the limit. Taeyong is way too stubborn to listen.
Relationships: Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung/Lee Taeyong
Series: (fluffy) 5 AM dotae fics [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1754260
Comments: 8
Kudos: 176





	out of love.

Doyoung and Taeyong were the only ones left in the practice room.

The music was turned up loud as Taeyong kept practicing the same moves over and over again.

Doyoung's voice was sore from singing and dancing along to it, now seated on the floor at the back of the room, occasionally watching Taeyong in the mirror. He occupied himself with his phone, groaning when he looked at the time. It was close to 1 AM.

The room was filled with Taeyong's pants alongside the music and he was showing no signs of stopping any time soon. 

Doyoung flopped down on the floor, stretching his body before he got up and walked over to lower the volume of the music on the speaker. Taeyong barely paid him any attention and kept moving.

"Hey, let's go back. It's almost 1."

Taeyong looked back at him for a moment before turning back to the mirror.

"Just a couple more times, then I'll be done." Taeyong assured him.

But Doyoung rolled his eyes, knowing where this was going to go. It was never 'a couple more times', it always ended up being a couple more _hours_ of Taeyong repeating the dance, ensuring many days of torture afterwards when he wouldn't be able to move a muscle and Doyoung would nurse him back to health.

And it's not that Doyoung minded doing that. Not at all. The only part he didn't like about it was Taeyong doing that to himself in the first place. There was no need to push himself like that: he was already way ahead of everyone else skill-wise, they looked perfect together in the choreography, but Taeyong just _had to_ pick out every single imperfection. 

The angle of his arm, the position of his leg, the look on this face - he wouldn't accept any, even only slight, deviation from the perfect image he had set of himself in his mind.

Even Doyoung had trouble trying to get him to cut himself some slack.

"You say that every. single. time. And then we're stuck here for another two hours." Doyoung crossed his arms.

Taeyong locked eyes with him through the mirror, arms dropping to his sides.

"Well, you know I have to." He said, stretching out his arms before preparing to start to move again.

The other rolled his eyes again, letting out an exasperated sigh.

"No, you don't. I keep telling you, it's late already, you've done well, let's just go."

But it seemed to fall on deaf ears. Taeyong turned around to look at Doyoung.

"Why are you being like this right now?"

"What exactly am I being like?"

It was Taeyong's turn to sigh as he walked past Doyoung to get a bottle of water. He unscrewed the top and took a sip of it, lifting his head back up to look at the other who still had his arms crossed over his chest, a frown now apparent on his face.

"You don't have to be here with me if all you're gonna do is nag at me."

Doyoung dropped his arms, mustering Taeyong with a look of disbelief. He huffed out a laugh.

"Now it's my fault for being worried?"

"I just want to practice a bit more, it's not that big of a deal."

He couldn't get through to Taeyong and, if he was honest, at that point, he didn't feel like trying any further. The tension was already thick enough to cut with a knife, Doyoung felt hurt by the blatant rejection and he was tired.

But he also couldn't get himself to leave Taeyong.

"I know you want to practice, but you also don't know when to stop yourself. You're overdoing it. So _I'm_ asking you to stop."

Taeyong, on the other hand, wasn't even trying to hide his annoyance. He was getting more and more irritated by Doyoung's resistance. It's not like this was something new for them, he was always like this and usually Doyoung would be very understanding. All he needed was a bit more practice until he was satisfied, but with Doyoung at his throat like this, it'd take hours.

"Doyoung, just leave if you don't want to wait. I'm busy."

Doyoung felt his cheeks heat up in anger, the warmth creeping down his neck in the worst way possible. Taeyong wasn't looking at him anymore, instead focused on the ground, hands fiddling with the water bottle.

He clenched and unclenched his hands, staring at Taeyong's unresponsive form.

"Fine."

Doyoung gathered his bag and jacket, storming out of the room. He wasn't the type to slam doors when he was upset, but he still might've closed the door with a bit more force than he intended.

Taeyong stood in the middle of the room again, now alone, the only sounds accompanying him being the quiet hum of the music playing on loop.

•

Doyoung arrived at the dorms, hoping the others were all in their rooms so they wouldn't have to see him like this.

Of course, there had to be at least some of them roaming around.

He was greeted by the sight of Johnny and Haechan coming out of the kitchen, probably coming back from getting snacks for a late night gaming session in their room, judging by the wide array of food in their arms.

"Hey, you're only coming back now, hyung?" Haechan asked, trying not to drop his bag of chips.

"Did Taeyong not come back with you?" Johnny added.

He wasn't trying to ruin their night with their silly fight, so he tried not to let his feelings show on his face.

"He should be back soon too."

Johnny seemed unconvinced, most likely seeing through the act, because of course he would. Taeyong and Doyoung stuck together like glue, they'd never come home seperately.

He furrowed his eyebrows and gave him a questioning nod. Meanwhile, Haechan looked back and forth between them, not catching on.

Doyoung managed a small smile and shake of his head.

"Have fun, you two. I need a shower." 

With that, he made his way to the bathroom, Johnny and Haechan making their way into their own room.

He showered, got dressed comfortably and contemplated going to bed immediately. A part of him wanted to stay up and wait for Taeyong, the other wanting to avoid contact with him in any way.

He knew Taeyong wasn't being completely irrational getting annoyed at him. He was being pretty stubborn about something that Taeyong did all the time, but he still couldn't help feeling hurt.

In the end, he sat at his desk, looking for something to distract him.

He was halfway through flipping some of the little paintings in the drawer that he had finished - or not - when there was a knock on the door.

It couldn't be Taeyong, he wouldn't have knocked and it would take a bit longer for him to get home.

So when he called out "come in", Johnny's head poked out from behind the door.

"Hey, you alright?"

Doyoung invited him in to sit on his bed, decided it wouldn't be long before Johnny got the confession out of him anyway and didn't try to hide it anymore.

"It was just a little fight."

"You sure seem more upset than someone who had 'just a little' fight."

Doyoung shrugged and gave him a sad smile.

 _"Hey, Johnny-hyung! The game's done loading!"_ Haechan's voice rang through the dorm.

Johnny sighed and stood up, squeezing Doyoung's shoulders.

"Talk to him when he gets back, alright? I'm sure he didn't mean to upset you."

"Thank you, hyung. I'll be okay, go before the baby gets mad."

Johnny pat his back, offering him an encouraging smile before leaving the room.

He turned back to his desk and started putting everything he had went through back in its place. He could talk to Taeyong in the morning, but for now, he wanted to sleep it off.

•

It took Taeyong around one and a half hours to finally leave the practice room.

Not much dancing had been done after Doyoung left, instead, he kept repeating their conversation over and over in his head.

As irritated as he had initially been, he knew Doyoung was right and that he had a tendency to overdo things, especially when it came to practicing his dancing.

He didn't mean to upset Doyoung, he might've been too sensitive and defensive, the harsh words coming out in the heat of the moment.

He quietly entered the dorm, which was completely dark and silent, carefully walking through the hallway to put his bag down in his room.

Everyone seemed to be in their own rooms, most likely asleep (except for Johnny and Haechan, he could hear muffled sounds coming from their room).

But if he knew anything about Doyoung, it was how uncomfortable he felt ending a conversation the way they ended theirs. It stressed him out, bothered him until he could clear things up. So Taeyong was almost completely certain that he was still awake.

He didn't want to wait until the morning if he had a chance of talking to him earlier. And he did feel really bad for fighting with him when he knew Doyoung only had good intentions and was worried for him.

He ignored the way his heart ached at the thought of Doyoung struggling to sleep because of him.

After pacing around for a bit, he mustered up the courage to knock on Doyoung's door - something he'd usually skip, having Doyoung's permission to simply enter.

He felt that this was an appropriate situation to knock.

And, as he had already suspected, Doyoung was up.

"Come in." The sound came more muffled than usual, but he was awake at least.

The room was dark as he stepped in, the only light coming from Doyoung's bed. He was sitting up, phone in hand. Taeyong could make out Doyoung's face looking back at who was entering in the darkness.

He switched the light by Doyoung's desk on, now enabling them to fully see each other.

Taeyong thought he saw Doyoung's shoulders drop slightly.

"Hey" was all Taeyong said as he stood by the desk, unsure of what to do with himself.

Doyoung rubbed his eyes and put his phone away. He looked at Taeyong with tired eyes and patted the free space in front of him on his bed. Taeyong walked over and sat on the edge of it.

The younger looked down in his lap, playing around with the blanket spread over it. He didn't know what to say, he had prepared himself for a talk in the morning, not at almost 3 AM.

It didn't matter because Taeyong was the one who spoke up first.

It barely came out as a whisper, but the soft "I'm sorry" was still audible to Doyoung's ears in the quiet room. He looked up at the older, who was avoiding his gaze and tracing patterns on the blanket right next to Doyoung's legs.

"Me too." Doyoung said, his voice just as gentle and soft as Taeyong's had been. Taeyong finally looked at him, his hand came up to his own face and started hesitantly scratching the scar under his right eye, displaying his old nervous habit.

Doyoung wrapped his fingers around Taeyong's wrist, pulling it down to stop him from scratching his scar. He slid his own hand up into Taeyong's palm and intertwined their fingers. The other responded with a sad smile, squeezing his hand.

"I didn't want to upset you and fight with you, it was my fault for talking to you like that. It was harsh and you didn't deserve that. I know you only want to take care of me, I know you meant well." Taeyong said, looking down at their hands and stroking the back of Doyoung's with his thumb.

"I was just.. I don't know. I know it's what you do, I love how hard-working and determined you are, but it's hard seeing you in pain and overworking yourself. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have kept pressuring you.. but I guess it still hurt."

Doyoung felt a sudden wave of gratitude wash over him as the words left his mouth. He took in the situation they were in, making up from a fight. And he felt so grateful for being where they are in their relationship.

They were talking it through together, he let himself be open with his feelings and he could only do that because of how comfortable Taeyong made him feel expressing them in front of him.

Despite their little fight, there was only ever love they felt for each other.

Taeyong scooted closer to him.

"I'm sorry for hurting you. You can scold me all you want, I deserve it sometimes. I can be a pain in the ass. I'm so grateful for you putting up with me and keeping me in check." 

Doyoung smiled at him gently and stretched out his free hand to pull him in for a hug. The other wasted no time in wrapping his arms around him, pressing his face into the crook of his neck. Taeyong relaxed into the hug, all the tension from before leaving him, now that they've talked it out.

Doyoung turned his face into Taeyong's neck and pressed a kiss to his skin, eliciting a soft giggle from him. Taeyong lifted his head to press a kiss to his cheek, on his forehead and finally onto his lips.

The exhaustion from the day started weighing on both of them as they could finally melt into each other's arms, having cleared up their fight.

"I love you." Taeyong whispered against his lips before pressing another kiss to them.

"Mhm, I love you too. Turn the light off and come here." Doyoung replied and pushed Taeyong off the blanket to lift it and let him join him in bed after switching the lamp off.

They pressed up against each other, Doyoung stroked Taeyong's cheek, while Taeyong dropped his hand on his waist, sliding it down to his hip and squeezing gently, rubbing soothing circles into his skin.

It wasn't long before their eyes fell shut and their breaths evened out, sleep taking over both of them.

•

The sight that Johnny was greeted with the next morning when he went to check on Doyoung warmed his heart. He hadn't missed the sound of Taeyong quietly entering the dorm and the equally quiet whispers coming from Doyoung's room afterwards.

He decided that, just for that day, he'd let them sleep in together just a bit longer after the long night they had.

**Author's Note:**

> Believe it or not, fluff isn't really my forte. Quite the opposite actually. I'm not very good at writing overly lovey-dovey, cheesy stuff (I also cringe at every word I write in that style). I much more prefer writing longer angsty fics but I feel like that's not what the DoTae tag needs right now.. maybe one day.
> 
> As always, I really appreciate everyone reading this and leave a comment if you enjoyed it!
> 
> Also, I want to add my CC in case there's someone out there who has a specific request! I can't promise anything, but I'd at least try to write something you want. I'd prefer a Doyoung pairing, I wanna try writing his rare pairings, so if you have one, hop on over to my CC!
> 
> https://curiouscat.qa/bunyoungie


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